But foul trouble forced McNair out of its typical up-tempo game and the Eagles had to outlast the Thunder's second-half rally to earn a 59-49 victory at McNair High.

The win earned McNair a semifinal matchup against No. 6 Sacramento-Florin - a 68-56 winner over No. 3 Modesto-Gregori - on Feb. 28 at Spanos Center with game time to be announced.

"We had to pull off our press because we were in foul trouble," said Matthews, who lost senior Kiara Williams with her fifth foul with 5:21 remaining in the game and his squad leading 43-29. "Our girls kept their cool, though. We knew Rocklin was going to come in and play hard. We weren't shooting well in the second half, but we hit some key baskets at the end."

McNair was whistled for 19 fouls compared to Rocklin's nine.

Eagles junior Mandy Coleman made three baskets in the first quarter and added four more in the fourth quarter for a team-high 14 points.

Coleman wasn't slacking, as she grabbed 12 rebounds and had eight steals for the Eagles (26-3) to go with three blocked shots, the last of which she took coast-to-coast for a layup in traffic to push McNair's lead to 52-41.

"(Rocklin) slowed us down," Coleman said. "We're excited with the win. We just want to keep playing hard so we can keep moving on in the playoffs."

The Thunder (20-9) cut the lead to nine after trailing by 22 (33-11). Sophomore Lydia Summers and senior Kelsey Summers scored 14 and 12 points, respectively. Rocklin made 15 of 20 free throws in the second half to climb back.

But McNair senior Bre Wilson scored on a layup and sophomore Brandi Hornsby made a 3-pointer to counter the rally. Wilson finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Hornsby scored eight points.

"I felt we were a little intimidated by (McNair's) size early," Thunder coach Rob Ferraro said. "Once we relaxed and settled down we started to play our game. We needed to get some stops, but every time we needed one, (McNair) would make a big shot to stem the tide."